FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GENERAL ELECTION - PAGE 3

Light takes early lead in St. Thomas Township ST. THOMAS TOWNSHIP, Pa. - With one of three precincts reporting, James E. Light was running ahead of Ed Herald by a vote of 62 to 26 in Tuesday's Republican Primary in the race for St. Thomas Township supervisor, according to unofficial early returns. The winner of the GOP primary will face Richard Walls in the November general election. Walls was the only candidate on the Democratic ballot.

The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday discussed amending a ballot question that would let voters decide whether to change the dates that municipal elections are held. The original question, which is to appear on the ballot during the city's general election on May 19, would give voters the opportunity to change municipal primary and general elections to coincide with the presidential ones. If that happens, the city's primary and general elections no longer would be held in March and May, but in February and November.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II gathered 53 percent of the vote during the Republican primary Tuesday to advance to the general election on May 19, according to unofficial results from the Washington County Board of Elections. Bruchey gathered 465 votes to Ann Holtzman's 344 votes, according to unofficial election results. A third mayoral candidate, Jonathan R. Burrs, received 70 votes. The election results won't become official until the absentee ballots are counted Thursday, said Eve McGrory of the City Elections Board.

Timothy Brooks was the odd man out Tuesday in the Republican primary race in Maryland House of Delegates District 3. The 3,198 votes cast for Brooks placed him fourth among the four Republicans seeking their party's nomination to run in the Nov. 3 general election. Only three GOP names will be placed on the ballot. The Republican nominees include: incumbent Del. Louise V. Snodgrass, who received 5,929 votes in complete but unofficial results; Joseph R. Bartlett, the son of U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who received 5,618 votes; and William M. Castle, chairman of the Frederick County Republican Central Committee, with 4,159 votes.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Eleven candidates for office in the Eastern Panhandle will be unopposed in Tuesday's primary election. In three races, candidates are vying for the same seat but they will not face each other until the general election on Nov. 5. Democratic incumbent John Doyle will face Republican David Ebbitt for the 57th District House of Delegates seat in the general election. In the 58th District, Democratic incumbent Dale Manuel will be challenged by Republican Fred Blackmer in November.

To bind or not to bind, that is the question facing the Hagerstown City Council on the 2012 general election ballot. The council has been considering a proposed change that would make elections nonpartisan - an election in which candidates are not nominated based on political party - and planned to pose a non-binding question to voters on the Nov. 8 ballot to gauge support. The original resolution, presented by City Attorney William Nairn during a work session in November 2011, indicated that the question would be nonbinding, but several council members questioned that notion during a work session Tuesday night.

The timing of this column allows me the opportunity to talk (nag) about one of my pet topics - voting. The Hagerstown primary election is this Tuesday. Vote. Ten Democratic City Council candidates are on the ticket seeking the five nominations for the general election. There are five candidates on the Republican ticket for council and a primary is not necessary. The five Democratic nominees selected Tuesday will face the five Republican nominees in the May 17 general election.

Three Hagerstown City Council incumbents were tossed from office Tuesday during the city's Democratic primary election, according to unofficial results. With all 14 precincts reporting, Councilwomen Kelly S. Cromer, Penny M. Nigh and Alesia D. Parson-McBean failed to place among the top five vote-getters to advance to the general election on May 19. The winners of the general election will take office June 1. The primary results won't become official until Thursday, when the absentee ballots are to be counted, said Eve McGrory of the Hagerstown Elections Board.

andrews@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A proposal to amend a section in the city's charter on election petitions met resistance from a city councilman Thursday night. City Recorder Sharon Flick asked the Martinsburg City Council to consider changing the time period for mayoral and council candidates to submit nominating petitions. Candidates currently may submit petitions between March 1 and 31. Flick said she'd like to make the filing period from Feb. 1 to 28, which would give the city's printer more time to create a general election ballot that easily can be understood.

More public offices would be decided through nonpartisan elections, under two bills proposed by Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washington/Allegany. One bill calls for the elections of the county treasurer, clerk of the Circuit Court and register of wills to be nonpartisan. The other makes the same change for the sheriff. Currently, those offices are treated the same as the county commissioners. Candidates run as Republicans, Democrats, with the backing of a third party or without party affiliation.